A rumen bolus is a device that is ingested into the rumen (stomach) of an animal, such as a cow or sheep for example, for monitoring the physiological state of the animal.
Kahne Ltd has developed a wireless rumen bolus that monitors in-rumen Ph, temperature, and pressure (see www.kahneanimalhealth.com). The bolus can transmit data in real time or at a specific time of day, which is received by the end user in raw format. The bolus is mainly used as a scientific instrument for those involved in rumen research. It assists scientists by providing a continuous and real-time flow of in vivo measurements from cattle living under realistic commercial conditions. However, it is currently still left up to the scientist to analyse the raw data from the bolus and make sense of what it represents.